Ladies and gentlemen, I am not making this up. They would have you believe the most profitable company in the history of Planet Earth is as helpless as a newborn doe against those bullies Al Gore and James Hansen.

[I]n this David and Goliath battle, it is American industry that is the David and the environmental activists, with their vast resources, who are the Goliath.

Keep in mind they’re saying all this in a conference that’s sprawled over parts of half a dozen floors of the Marriott Grand Marquis Times Square, where martinis in the lounge start at $15. There’s big money behind this event.

Look, you don’t need me to detail how silly it is to call ExxonMobil an underdog. But it’s a reflection on the credibility of this conference that speaker after speaker can say it without getting laughed out of the room.